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Renting a House in Mérida: What to Check Before You Sign a Lease
Renting a house in Mérida? Learn what to check for water systems, leaks, mold, electricity, gas, pests and maintenance before signing a lease.
C. Monte Raynor
Sep 155 min read


GL.iNet Slate 7 vs Slate 7 Pro: Which Travel Router Should Remote Workers Buy?
Compare the GL.iNet Slate 7 (BE3600) and Slate 7 Pro (BE10000) for remote work, Personal VPN performance, portability, and advanced networking features.
C. Monte Raynor
Sep 143 min read


GL.iNet Slate 7 Firmware 4.9: The New VPN Features That Actually Matter
GL.iNet Slate 7 firmware 4.9 adds VPN obfuscation, DPI, profile failover, toggle controls, and kill-switch changes. Here are the updates that matter for remote workers.
C. Monte Raynor
Sep 143 min read


VPN Connected but No Internet? How to Diagnose a Travel Router VPN That Stopped Working
VPN connected but no internet? Learn how to isolate whether your travel router, home internet, VPN connection, upstream service, or hardware actually failed.
C. Monte Raynor
Sep 97 min read


How to Decide Where to Live in Mexico: Choose a City Based on Your Actual Life
One of the first questions people ask when they're thinking about moving to Mexico is: Where is the best place to live? I understand why. You start researching Mexico and quickly find lists of the best cities for expats, the cheapest places to retire, the safest cities, the best beach towns and the best places for digital nomads. But after living in Mexico since 2019, I think there's a better question: What does the life you want to build require from the place where you live
C. Monte Raynor
Sep 47 min read


Moving to Mexico Checklist: What to Do and in What Order
Planning a move to Mexico? Use this relocation checklist to organize finances, residency, housing, healthcare, transportation and other decisions in the right order.
C. Monte Raynor
Sep 47 min read


Are You Ready to Move to Mexico? A Relocation Readiness Guide
Researching a move to Mexico is not the same as being ready. Pressure-test your finances, housing, residency, family, healthcare, transportation and timeline before you move.
C. Monte Raynor
Sep 46 min read


Can You Afford to Move to Mexico? How to Build a Realistic Relocation Budget
Can you afford to move to Mexico? Build a realistic relocation budget around your actual lifestyle, transition costs, obligations, housing, healthcare and financial resilience.
C. Monte Raynor
Sep 47 min read


GL.iNet Travel Routers for Remote Work: What You Actually Need for a Personal VPN
Learn how GL.iNet travel routers fit into a Personal VPN, why newer Slate 7 hardware matters, and why bigger routers are not always better.
C. Monte Raynor
Sep 47 min read


Personal VPN for Remote Work Abroad: How the Setup Actually Works
Learn how a Personal VPN for remote work abroad actually works, including host location, upload speed, travel routers, and planning your complete setup.
C. Monte Raynor
Sep 45 min read


Raising Black Teens in Mérida, Mexico: One Mother's Experience Building Community
What one Black mother learned raising three boys in Mérida—and why helping teenagers build community can matter as much as the move itself.
C. Monte Raynor
Sep 410 min read


Raising a Black Family in Mérida, Mexico: Our Experience After Moving Abroad
Our firsthand experience raising a Black child in Mérida, Mexico—from schools and Spanish to friendships, community and building a life abroad as a family.
C. Monte Raynor
Sep 47 min read


Pulled Over by Police in Mexico: What Happened and What I Should Have Done
What happened when police pulled me over in Mérida, Mexico—and why the experience felt so different to me as a Black American living abroad.
C. Monte Raynor
Sep 45 min read


Black Expats in Mexico: What to Know Before Moving
Considering Mexico as a Black American? After living in Mexico since 2019, I share what to consider about community, culture, location and relocation planning.
C. Monte Raynor
Sep 47 min read


Moving to Mexico: The Residency and Relocation Steps I Wish Everyone Understood
Planning a move to Mexico? Understand residency, entry, housing, money, healthcare and the first decisions to sequence before you relocate.
C. Monte Raynor
Sep 28 min read


Dynamic DNS and Personal VPN Setups: Why Support Matters Before Something Breaks
When you are living abroad, traveling, or testing life in a new country, the last thing you want is a surprise connection issue. Most Personal VPN setups work quietly in the background. You connect. You do what you need to do. You move on with your day. But like any system that depends on routers, internet providers, changing IP addresses, and configuration details, a Personal VPN setup still needs to be understood, documented, and supported properly. One issue I have seen co
C. Monte Raynor
Jun 125 min read


The #1 fear showing up in our Mexico Readiness Reviews
A lot of people start thinking about Mexico because they believe life may cost less. And for many people, that can be true. But after looking at our Roadmap to Expat Readiness Reviews, one thing is very clear: The money question is still the one keeping people up at night. The most common primary fear was not housing. It was not language. It was not even safety. The #1 fear was: Money running out. That matters—because it tells me people are not just dreaming about Mexico. The
C. Monte Raynor
Jun 114 min read


My Sabor de Yucatán Passport Tour: 10 Stops, Countless Flavors, and a Whole Lot of Mezcal
What’s good, Mexit Planners? Mérida just wrapped up its very first Sabor de Yucatán food festival, and let me tell you—it was a full-on feast for the senses. I spent over four hours tasting my way through 10 different restaurants, mostly along the buzzing Gastronomic District on Calle 47, and ending near the Monumento a la Patria on Paseo Montejo. From smoky tacos to raw octopus (yes, really), I sampled a little bit of everything—guided by the official festival passport, whic
C. Monte Raynor
Feb 284 min read


Catching the IE-TRAM at Sunrise: A Ride Through Modern Mérida
What’s good, Mexit Planners? It’s 5:20 a.m. on a Friday and I’m out here in Mérida , chasing sunrise and something I’ve been waiting on for months—the North Route of the IE-TRAM . If you’ve been following the transportation upgrades in Yucatán, then you know this line is a big deal. This new route runs from Parque La Plancha , right through Prolongación Paseo de Montejo , and all the way up to the Periférico —Mérida’s ring road. Think of it like Mérida’s version of a subway.
C. Monte Raynor
Feb 214 min read


Coffee, Cold Brews & Surprises: My Café Crawl Through Centro Mérida
Hey Mexit Planners, If you know anything about me, you know I love coffee. So when a new book landed on my doorstep (about—you guessed it—coffee), I figured it was the perfect excuse to head into Centro Mérida and explore a few coffee shops I hadn't visited in a while… and a couple that were totally new to me. This wasn’t just a café hop—it turned into a full-on Centro adventure with buses, bookstores, burgers, and unexpected art galleries. Let’s dive in. 🚎 Getting There: V
C. Monte Raynor
Feb 144 min read
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